“Excuse me, what on earth happened here?” After taking a deep breath and fixing his posture he approached the police officers.

“Is this your shop, Sir?” One of the policemen on the road asked. Just then the two standing on the pavement turned to look at him. There was a short man with short brown hair and a dark blonde haired beauty who looked at him with an electric gaze.

“Yes... it is.”

“You're lucky you came, we were about to walk in to see if there was a dead body as well.”

“I see.”

“Our patrolling officer found it like this, from what we can see there's no major damage, just the window and a few items missing from the shelves.” Suddenly Beau froze and ran through the currently vacant window frame. Luckily what he was looking for was there. It was a very normal looking wooden box, after all, it would be very hard to find value in it if you had no idea what it was.

“What's the big fuss over a wooden box?” Beau almost jumped out of his skin, how had this lady entered and stood right beside him without him noticing.

“You're making a big mistake if you think it's just a wooden box, but that's beside the point. As long as this is here you don't have to worry about the rest of the items, most of them are replaceable.”

“I see, do you mind if we have a look around. This is a crime scene after all.”

“Of course, go ahead.”

“Oh, I'm DCI Watson.”

“Beau Ignatius. Nice to meet you.”

They exchanged a firm handshake then Watson got to work with her stammering assistant. She started by combing through the broken glass, then when not finding anything she turned to search the shelves that had been ransacked. Then she did a full inspection of the shop, briefly stopping and picking something up along the way.

“Mr. Ignatius.”

“Beau is alright actually, I prefer it.”

“Beau, could you tell me what this is, if you would.”

“Of course, it's a device that allows you to record sound for around five to ten seconds.”

“And you made this yourself.”

“Yes Ma'am, I'm the only one in Bath that can make this kind of device.”

“Is that so... Would you come to the police station tomorrow, I have some questions for you.”

“If you deem it necessary.”

“I do...”

“Then I'll come, could it be after work, though, I daresay I need some time to restock my shelves.”

“Then, how about dinner?”

“Sounds perfect, there's a lovely Italian down the road.”

“I know the place, I'll be there at seven.”

Watson turned to leave, the skittish assistant taking one last hesitant look at Beau before leaving. Luckily the MCR officers were kind enough to summon a temporary board to replace the window which meant that Beau could go straight to sleep.

Not only did he have the Creed and replacing the stolen items but now he has to worry about a date with a stunning police officer. It was all getting too much for him.

------------------------------------------

“Spencer told me after a painfully long conversation about your dinner reservation.”

Watson had gone home after the midnight excursion. It was now the next morning and she was having a conversation with a fellow officer. Rather than a conversation, it was more just him prattling on while she was trying to eat breakfast. Either way, she forced herself to keep cool.

“Oh, did he?”

“That's not like you...”

“What do you mean?”

...

“It's no secret Watson. You're pretty cold when it comes to the...”

“Men?”

“Exactly. I mean, the number of times you've been unsuccessfully courted could break records.”

“Now, now. Surely you have better things to do than talking about my love life.”

“You're underestimating our boredom.”

“Or am I overestimating your work ethic?”

...

“While that was relatively harsh, I can't argue with it. So, what's this guy got going for him that makes him interesting?”

“I have no idea...”

“What?”

“That's what makes him interesting.”

--------------------------------------------

Beau's recordings were muffled and generally hard to understand perfectly but that wasn't necessary. After all he already knew the time, location and purpose of the meeting on the weekend.

Something to do with slaves or some such thing. Apparently, despite slavery being abolished in England for 30 years, there were still these types of people.

The conversation he'd listened in on did provide him with some alarming and immediate news.

There was to be a Creed initiation in Bath. He knew the location but not the time, he'd already resolved to stake the place out as soon as his dinner with the Detective finished.

He had already spent most of the day speed crafting new items to restock the shelves. The customers were relatively quiet as well. He had written a sign outside expressing his current situation. Although in reality there wasn't much missing and Sheila had come to give him a hand in the morning which was very kind. He did however, fear the connections she had in order to get information of his predicament so early in the morning

Time, as it always does, eventually caught up with him and he had to set down the gadget he had been tinkering with and dressed in a dark black suit with his overcoat on and his black fedora. He had almost habitually taken his mask but then realised it wasn't that sort of occasion. At least, ho hoped it wasn't.

After dressing to a suitable standard he headed down the pavement with only the moon and the stars to light the way. He found that luckily he was the first to arrive. He had made sure to arrive early lest he gets caught making a lady wait. She showed up soon after in a black dress contrasting beautifully with her dark blonde hair.

He actually froze, and she brushed lightly past his shoulder as if reminding him to breathe, which he needed.

“Lovely place, I hope the company is to the same standard.”

“I will do my utmost to make sure or that, Mrs. Watson”

“Don't disappoint me!... And it's Ms. Watson”

“Ah, pardon me!”

“Not to worry... So are we going in or are we going to eat out here?”

“I think inside would be more comfortable.”

The dinner was very pleasant. They both had sharp minds, they were both sophisticated and witty. Their conversation and chemistry were levels above anyone else in the restaurant. Friendly jokes and compelling topics flowed throughout the meal excluding when the food arrived, which was to a very average standard. But the two people sitting at the table took no notice as they were too absorbed in their conversation.

Watson had expressed a huge interest in magic circles. Which Beau was delighted about because that's almost all he knew how to talk about. He had to control his excitement to make sure he let nothing slip about him being a magician.

Eventually, even Watson surprised herself. She was not here for fun, yet she ended up having a lot of it. This was definitely an irregularity and she showed it by not getting to the point of the conversation until everything had already finished. Beau paid for the meal and they set off walking.

The horse and carriage that was waiting for Watson were waved away by the very person and the two carried their conversation all the way to Beau's shop where she finally remembered what she was here for. Beau stood up on the small doorstep and started trying to fish his keys out of one of his pockets, Watson got up as well, standing just a few centimetres away from him.

He finally found the keys and looked up, seeing that she was so close he only smiled and unlocked the door, beckoning her inside.

“I think, now that we have returned to the scene of the crime, you should start your questions.”

“Good idea, my first one is relatively simple. How long had you gone for?”

“Around 2-3 hours. I am not certain of the exact time.”

“What were you doing?... For curiosity's sake.”

“Ah. Well, you know what they say about curiosity.”

“I am no feline.”

“Of course. Nest question?”

Watson raised an eyebrow and after pausing for a second skillfully continued the conversation.

“I found this yesterday and after asking you what it is you seemed to be very confident that you were the only one in the city that could make such an item.”

She now pulled the voice recording device out of the pocket of her overcoat.

“So that's where that went.”

She winked at him.

“Yes, I daresay not just the city, rather I am probably only one of three total people that can make such a device. At least to that level of accuracy and effectiveness.”

“Very impressive.”

“You flatter me.”

“Well, that's all well and good but we found an identical item at the scene of a different crime scene not too long ago. Do you have any idea how it got there?”

After listening intently he took his coat off and hung it on the rack, alongside his fedora. The effect of his blue hair had garnered many stares at the restaurant and now pulled the attention of Watson's gaze very effectively.

“I can only think that they must have bought it here?”

She snapped back to attention after hearing clearly what he had said.

“So you think he purchased it here? Do you think it may be the same person that robbed you?”

“I don't think so, after all, why would you buy an item from a shop you're just about to steal from?”

“That's what I thought...”

“Next question!”

“Do you keep a record of the items you have sold?

“Of course.”

“And how many voice recorders have you sold?”

“Ms. Watson, it's one of the main items in my shop. I've sold too many to remember the exact number.”

“So I suppose plowing through that wouldn't help much anyway. They must have to show license when they buy items. But, if he's a rogue he shouldn't have a license.”

“There is such a thing as legal rogues.”

“They don't usually last very long though as we have their magic signature. We know who they are as soon as they use magic.”

“Maybe he used a fake card?”

“I've been working here for 4 years and I've never heard of such a thing.”

Beau just shrugged. After a short pause, he took the initiative without looking too desperate to lead the conversation towards a different topic.

“Any more questions?”

“What are you doing this weekend?”

This caught Beau by surprise. Before he got a word in she continued.

“From what I can see here, what we're left with is a normal robbery. No magic was used, there were no witnesses and as far as I can tell from asking your neighbours, no one seems to have any kind of grudge against you. In fact, they all spoke lovely things about your relationship with one of the older shop owners. So, I'm afraid, there's not much I can do about this break-in. I only came to check on it because it may involve the case I'm currently investigating.”

“I see.”

“So are you busy?”

“I'll be busy on Sunday, but Saturday I'm all yours.”

“Lucky me. Oh and, I'll be taking this.”

“She walked out the door waving the voice recorder as she left. Beau swiftly maneuvered in front of her and held open the door. He offered to walk her home which she gladly accepted and they talked all the way to her house. All about his lesson at the academy, and her troubles with the current case and her stuttering assistant.

After arriving at her house, which as it turns out was only a few streets away, Beau returned home. Very ready for a night's sleep. It had been relatively tiring and lasted a lot longer than he thought it would, but, he enjoyed every second of it.

This was the second time in a day that he'd been able to take his mind off his troubles and just purely enjoy some time with good company. Although he was taking his time, he may actually be getting better.

Just as he was thinking it was too good to be true, a shudder ran down his spine as he realised, it was.